"This person before us...he can't be trusted."

Gojo arched one brow, seemingly unfazed by Puck's sudden wariness. "Huh? What seems to be the problem, little spirit?"

His tone remained deceptively light and nonchalant, feigning obliviousness to Puck's clear unease. Satella, however, looked distinctly caught off guard by her companion's words.

"Really?" She glanced between Puck and Gojo with a furrowed brow. "I know he seems rather...odd. But what do you mean, Puck? Is he dangerous?"

Turning her suspicious gaze fully on Gojo now, Satella's demeanor shifted, clearly putting stock in whatever Puck had sensed. "You need to explain yourself right now."

Rather than offer any clarification, Gojo merely regarded her coolly, unbothered by the accusatory tone.

"Is that so?" he replied lazily, brushing off her clear concern with a casual air. "And what exactly seems to be the issue here? I don't have the faintest idea of what your cute little mascot thinks he knows about me."

Satella shot Puck a questioning look, silently prompting him to elaborate. His eyes remained locked with Gojo's as he gave voice to his misgivings.

"There is something I sense unnatural emanating from him," he began slowly as if struggling to put his otherworldly senses into words. "I'm not entirely sure what exactly it is I'm detecting, but it's sinister. I've never encountered anything quite like it."

At those words, Gojo's piercing blue eyes seemed to glint with a hint of intrigue behind his tinted lenses. Gojo slowly began to clap exaggeratedly while giving an amused chuckle. "Well now, isn't that an interesting development?"

"I can't say I'm not entirely surprised," Gojo admitted easily, shrugging one shoulder in an infuriatingly casual gesture. "Didn't expect anyone here would have the ability to detect it. But I guess it makes sense that a spirit like yourself might."

Satella's brow furrowed deeply as she studied him carefully. "What do you mean by 'it'?" she demanded, unable to disguise the edge of unease that had crept into her voice.

In response, Gojo merely pulled out a small wooden box, holding it up with a grin as he gave it an idle wave. "Is this what you were looking for?"

His casual words seemed to catch Puck off guard as the cat spirit zeroed in on the unassuming container with narrowed eyes.

"Hmmm...that object does seem to be the source of the energy I'm detecting," Puck murmured, more to himself than the others. "What is contained within that box?"

Gojo seemed to ponder Puck's question for a moment. Finally, a smile spread across his face. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to give you both a little insight," he began lightly. "But only if you're willing to take me up on my original offer of letting me travel alongside you two."

His eyes looked with amusement as he awaited their response. Puck eyed him warily before replying. "That would depend on the nature of this object. Though I will admit, you have my curiosity."

Gojo let out an exaggerated groan, rolling his eyes dramatically. "Fine, fine. The answer is simple - it's a finger."

Satella gasped, one hand flew up to cover her mouth as her eyes widened with shock. "You can't be serious… You're joking, right?"

"Nah, it's a real, actual severed finger," Gojo interjected with a smirk, amused by her reaction. "But don't worry, I had nothing to do with it winding boxed up like this. I was just sent to retrieve it."

Puck hovered protectively beside Satella, eyeing the mysterious container. "But what's so special about it that would warrant it being retrieved by you?" the cat spirit pressed.

"What's so special about it, you ask?" He gave the box an idle wave. "Well, it just so happens to be what's known as a cursed object. One of twenty, to be precise."

He paused for dramatic effect, clearly relishing stringing them along. When neither Satella nor Puck seemed to grasp the significance, Gojo finally continued.

"There are twenty fingers in total, each belonging to Ryomen Sukuna - the being regarded as the absolute 'King of Curses' over a thousand years ago."

"Even after death, Sukuna traversed the ages by splitting his soul across these twenty indestructible fingers. This..." He gave the container a meaningful look. "...is simply one of the twenty that contain fragments of his power."

Letting that revelation hang heavily in the air for a beat, Gojo finally shrugged. His usual casual demeanor reasserted itself as he flashed them an easygoing smile. "And that's pretty much the basics of it. Quite the story, don't you think?"

Satella seemed to process Gojo's claims with her expression evident of skepticism and confusion. "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure if I fully believe everything you just said," she admitted, her tone almost apologetic. "Or understand it all, to be honest."

Her gaze drifted to Puck, silently seeking the spirit's input. How could she have never heard of someone called the 'King of Curses' before if they were supposedly so powerful and infamous? What does that even mean?

"Don't have to. Just know as long as it's kept sealed in the tailsman it's pretty much harmless," Gojo added reassuringly.

"Hmmm..." Puck's tail gave an agitated twitch as he studied the container. "Even so, it still seems like a dangerous object to carry."

Rather than take offense at the spirit's doubtful tone, Gojo merely threw back his head with a laugh.

"The safest place for this object is right here with me," he stated plainly once his laughter subsided. "I said I was the strongest, didn't I? That's why I was chosen to handle it in the first place."

His casual words gave Puck pause. "You are a very confident person." The spirit studied Gojo carefully through narrowed eyes. After a tense beat, Gojo continued with a slight grimace.

"Although I'll admit, I did sort of...get myself into a bit of a situation along the way, which is why I'm still in possession of it for the time being." He waved one hand idly, brushing off the detail. "I'm just offering up my services until I can get everything sorted out and hand this little treasure off to its intended destination."

A slow, sly smile stretched across Gojo's features once more as he focused his full attention on Satella. "So? What do you say?"

Puck seemed to carefully mull over Gojo's words, tail swishing behind him. Finally, the cat spirit repositioned himself to sit primly atop Satella's shoulder, addressing her directly.

"All of this does sound interesting," he murmured contemplatively before turning to Satella. "On the whole though, I think you should strongly consider accepting."

Given his initial misgivings, the silver-haired girl looked somewhat taken aback by Puck's suggestion.

"But...you said he couldn't be trusted," she pointed out hesitantly. "I thought you sensed something off about him?" Satella bit her lip, clearly torn between trusting her companion's judgment and her lingering wariness about Gojo's presence.

For his part, Gojo didn't seem perturbed by her doubts, merely offering up another convincing point with another grin.

"Well, if what I have in my possession was so incredibly dangerous, wouldn't it make the most sense to stay close and keep watchful eyes on me?" he posited easily.

Puck's ears twitched contemplatively at this logic.

"He...does make a fair point," the spirit conceded. "And from what I can sense, he does seem to be incredibly powerful. Nothing wrong with extra protection. Besides..."

A hint of mischief sparked in Puck's eyes.

"He seems fun and interesting. Definitely could liven things up, do you agree?"

Gojo shot the cat spirit an amused look, his grin stretching wider. "See? The cat gets it."

Satella's brow furrowed deeply as she attempted to weigh her options. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of tense silence, she seemed to come to a decision. Raising her chin with a determined look, Satella suddenly locked eyes with Gojo.

"Don't move," she instructed flatly.

Gojo arched one brow inquisitively but otherwise held himself perfectly still as Satella blatantly stared him down, searching his features intensely as if attempting to discern any hint of deceit or foul intentions.

When Gojo held her gaze unwaveringly, not so much as flinching from her piercing inspection, his lips slowly curled into a cocky smirk.

"Oh? I see what's going on here," he murmured teasingly as he causally closed the distance between them. "What a fun little game you've decided to play."

Satella quickly averted her eyes from his with an embarrassed look as Gojo continued advancing.

"If it'll make you feel better..." he began smoothly, stopping just a couple of paces away before dramatically spreading his arms out wide in an exaggeratedly permissive gesture. "By all means, give me a thorough search if you think I'm hiding anything else nefarious from you both."

"I'll even allow a little pat down," Gojo added with a wink and a curl of his lips.

"N-No, I...That's okay," Satella stammered out at last. She quickly shook her head, determined to recover her composure. "I don't think you're hiding anything else after all. Sorry for...thinking that of you."

After an extended pause, Satella finally spoke up once more. "I've...decided you can help us," she began slowly, raising her gaze back to meet Gojo's. "But just know that I can't offer any way to repay-"

She didn't get a chance to finish her thought before Gojo clasped his hands together enthusiastically, cutting her off with an abrupt exclamation.

"Great!"

Gojo started striding forward until he was right alongside Satella. Leaning in far closer than what would typically be considered a respectful distance, Gojo flashed her a grin.

"Now that we're all one big, happy team, how about taking a nice group selfie?" he suggested, not even giving her a chance to process his words before whipping out a rectangular device.

Before she could protest further, Gojo was angling the device out in front of them. Satella caught sight of their reflections in what appeared to be some sort of glass-like surface on the object's front.

Satella didn't even have time to ask what he was up to before a series of rapid flashes started going off, temporarily blinding her as Gojo held the device at various angles, taking multiple snapshots from every conceivable position and perspective.

"W-What are you doing?" she sputtered, blinking spots from her vision as she automatically shielded her face from the onslaught.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of flashes, he paused to begin scrolling through the results with an appraising look.

"Can't wait to show the others back home about all this when I get back," he chuckled to himself with a glint in his eye. "They wouldn't have believed me otherwise."

From his perch on Satella's shoulder, Puck leaned into the device curiously, intrigued by the unfamiliar technology as he intently peered at the small glass-like screen.

"What a strange object you have." he marveled with a flick of his tail. "That's our faces isn't it?"

Leaning in, Satella scanned the series of nearly identical frozen frames with a small furrow of confusion. "Is that... us?" she murmured, almost to herself.

Her somewhat dumbstruck question only made Gojo chuckle anew as he cocked the device toward her with a teasing grin. "Yeah, though it looks like you blinked during most of them. Not a great look."

Each of the snapshots portrayed her face half-shielded by her hands as if to ward off the barrage of flashes. Gojo's insufferable laughter only compounded her embarrassment, Satella determinedly avoiding meeting his gaze.

Even Puck couldn't quite stop an amused chuckle, clearly finding the teen rather entertaining despite his earlier misgivings. Satella shot Puck a halfhearted glare in response.

"Alright, I think that's more than enough for now," Gojo proclaimed easily, lacing his fingers behind his head in a casual stretch. "We should probably get a move on and make some actual progress with this little search of yours."

They emerged from the narrow alley, rejoining the flow of people bustling along the busy street. Gojo fell into step beside Satella, his long strides easily matching her pace.

'Finally got them to let me tag along, this should be fun,' he thought inwardly with an amused chuckle. 'Not sure if I should've told them that much about the cursed object though. Not like they'd fully get it anyway, but they'll probably ask more annoying questions later.'

Gojo fished a soda can from the plastic bag hanging loosely in his grip. With a flick of his thumb, he popped the tab and took a long swig, swinging the bag idly at his side as they wove through the crowd.

"Don't know how long I'll be stuck here, but I'll make the most of it," he said under his breath with a slight shake of his head.

"So what are we even looking for?" he asked Satella in a louder tone.

The silver-haired girl glanced over at him. "It's my insignia. Has a jewel in the center, about this big." She held her fingers up, separating them by an inch.

One of Gojo's brows inched up above the rim of his tinted glasses. "That's it? Was expecting something more interesting."

Satella's shoulders stiffened slightly. "It's very important to me," she insisted.

Gojo gave an indifferent shrug. "If you say so. Got no clue where it is though."

Satella's posture deflated somewhat at his words. "Oh..."

But then a sly smile stretched across Gojo's lips. "But... I do remember what that girl you were chasing looked like. Shouldn't be too hard to find her."

"Oh! That's good then," Satella replied, a glimmer of hope returning to her expression.

"Yeah..." Gojo drew out the word as he took another swig of his soda. "Just try not to slow me down." He picked up his pace, carrying himself ahead of Satella in a few easy strides.

"Slow you down?" she echoed in confusion, her momentum halting. She watched Gojo weave through the crowd, rapidly outpacing her. Satella realized he had no intention of waiting up and quickly sped up her pace.

As she fell back in beside him with disheveled breaths, Gojo cut her a sidelong glance, a smug smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Told you," he remarked, taking another pull from his soda as they continued together at a normal pace once more.

"Why did you suddenly speed up?" Satella asked, a crease forming between her brows as she looked up at Gojo. "Do you know where she is?"

Gojo let out a scoff. "Haha nah, I have no idea where I'm even going," he admitted with a chuckle.

Satella paused, dumbfounded for a moment as she processed his words. Seeing her confusion, Gojo continued, "If you haven't figured it out already, I'm pretty new here."

"That would make sense..." Satella said slowly. "You do talk about strange things and wear strange clothes too."

One corner of Gojo's mouth quirked up into a smirk. "Tryna insult me? And I thought we were a team," he teased.

Satella's eyes widened slightly. "Oh no, I didn't mean it like that!" After a beat, curiosity got the better of her. "Where are you from anyways?"

"Far from home," Gojo replied vaguely with a casual shrug.

Suddenly, Puck popped out from Satella's hair, fluttering right up to hover in front of Gojo's face. "Now that I've looked more closely, you look pretty tall and well-built."

A cocky smile played across Gojo's lips at the spirit's observation.

Satella stepped up in front of Gojo, causing him to halt as she reached out to take his hand in both of hers, angling it up to study it closely. "Your fingers, too. They're very pretty," she stated matter-of-factly. "It's evidence that you don't live like a peasant at all."

She tilted her head back to look up at him. Gojo responded by batting his lashes in an exaggerated flutter. "Am I being hit on?" he asked teasingly.

Satella blinked confused, clearly not following his suggestive tone. "Not sure, but you must be from a respectable family, right?"

Gojo's smile was a self-assured smirk. "You'd be right to think that." He glanced down pointedly at where Satella still held his hand. "You can let go of my hand now."

"Oh, sorry!" Satella started, withdrawing her hands a little embarrassed.

Brushing off the awkward moment, Gojo refocused. "So are we going to go? I thought you wanted to find your Insignia."

Satella blinked up at him. "Go where?"

Rolling his eyes, Gojo fixed her with a look that seemed to question her intelligence as he chuckled under his breath. "Isn't it obvious? The place where it was first stolen."

They had arrived at a new area of the town, one that seemed vaguely familiar to Gojo. He glanced around, taking in the surroundings. "So is this the place where your insignia was stolen?"

Satella nodded. "Yes, it was around here."

Gojo let out a low whistle. "Pretty sure I was here not too long ago. Kinda funny, isn't it?"

From behind them, a familiar voice suddenly spoke up. "Hey, you!"

Gojo turned his head to look back over his shoulder, a bright smile spreading across his face as he recognized the speaker. "Always nice to see a familiar face." He adopted a thoughtful expression, tapping his chin. "Hmm...what's your name again?"

The fruit seller named Kadomon scowled deeply at Gojo. "I never told you. What are you doing back here, broke kid?"

Undeterred by the man's gruff attitude, Gojo's smile only widened. "Is that any way to treat a friend?"

Satella looked to Gojo. "You know him? Maybe we can ask if he knows anything."

Gojo gave her a conspiratorial wink. "That's just what I was about to do." He leaned in closer to the stall, putting on his most charming smile. "Do you know where my friend here misplaced her little insignia? She lost it around here." He held his fingers apart to indicate the small size. "It's about this big."

Satella immediately pouted. "I did not misplace it. It was stolen from me," she corrected indignantly.

Unruffled, Gojo smoothly continued. "Right, stolen. Anyways, do you know anything about a little yellow-haired girl running around here?"

Kadomon scowled deeply, clearly unhappy. "I'm not trying to waste my time with a broke kid, so run along and stop distracting me from my business."

Gojo's smile didn't falter as he proposed, "What if I buy something? Will you then answer my questions?"

The fruit vendor put a hand to his head with an exaggerated sigh. "Not this again..."

Laughing easily, Gojo enthusiastically gestured towards Satella. "It's not gonna be like last time. This time I brought a paying customer!"

Satella looked taken aback. "Um, Gojo... You seem to have some weird expectations of me, but I don't have any money."

Gojo's joyful expression froze comically. "Oh..."

Kadomon fixed them with an utterly unimpressed look, clearly not buying their act for a second. He crossed his arms, his scowl deepening. "So you are both broke customers? I don't have time for losers with no money! Get outta here!"

Gojo's casual demeanor cracked slightly at the insult. "It's not like anyone wants to buy your shitty apples anyways," he bit out with a bit of venom.

The fruit vendor gritted his teeth, not even bothering to correct Gojo about the fruit's name this time. "What did you just say? Do you have a problem or something?"

Rather than backing down, Gojo let out a chuckle, his cocky demeanor returning full force. "Yeah, I got a problem. How about you just tell us what we need and I'll forgive you."

Kadomon was unamused by Gojo's flippant attitude. "Get outta here, I told you I'm not telling you anything!"

Trying to diffuse the rising tension, Satella cut in placatingly. "Um, it's ok, Gojo. We'll just ask someone else."

Gojo gave an indifferent shrug. "Sure, let's go." But he couldn't resist tossing one last remark over his shoulder as they turned to leave, flashing the fruit vendor a taunting smile. "Probably should watch the attitude or you're gonna scare away customers."

Kadomon's scowl deepened as he glared after their retreating forms, clearly riled up by the parting remark. Satella quickly looped her arm through Gojo's and tugged him along before he could reignite the confrontation.

As they put more distance between themselves and the irate vendor, Satella risked a sidelong glance up at Gojo. "Was that necessary? You seemed to already know him..."

Gojo waved a dismissive hand. "Relax, that guy was just some random dude I met earlier. He was an ass then too."

He smirked as he reached into his pockets and pulled out a plump, bright red fruit. It looked ripe and juicy. Bringing it up to his mouth, Gojo took an exaggerated bite. Satella's eyes widened as she recognized it was one of the fruits from the vendor's stall at the market. "Where did you get that? You said you didn't have any money."

"You're right about that," Gojo replied nonchalantly, taking another noisy bite and chewing obnoxiously.

Realization crossed Satella's face. "Gojo...did you take that fruit without paying?" she asked, disapproval clear in her tone.

He merely gave a lazy one-shouldered shrug. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Does it matter?"

"Well, yes it does matter," Satella said, frowning slightly. "It isn't right to take things that don't belong to you."

Gojo shot her an amused look, repeating her words in a mocking tone. "Can't take things, huh?" He let out a short laugh. "Guess I'm a rule-breaker then."

"You should go back and return it, or at least pay for it," Satella urged, keeping her voice level.

That only made Gojo laugh harder, head thrown back. "Return it? Yeah, right." He took another deliberate bite, letting juice trickle down his fingers.

"It's not like I wasn't trying to be nice at first," Gojo said with a shrug. "It's really not that big a deal, so you should just let it go. You'll only slow yourself down if you care about bullshit like that."

He lazily tossed the half-eaten fruit over his shoulder, as if he'd only gotten it to get back at the vendor. It hit the ground with a soft thump. "But if it makes you feel better about yourself, you can go return it to him yourself."

Satella stared at the discarded fruit for a moment before sighing. "No, it's fine."

A small smile played across Gojo's lips. "How about we start searching somewhere else then?"

They walked along, Satella shooting occasional sideways glances toward her new companion. In her head, she was realizing Gojo might not be one of the nicest people out there. From the very beginning, he'd been cocky and dismissive, seemingly not caring about the consequences of his actions. She still didn't fully understand why he wanted to help her in the first place. But she held onto hope that he had good intentions deep down.

Gojo and Satella continued their search through the city streets, weaving between merchants and shoppers. Satella abruptly stopped walking, an expression of concern crossing her face.

"Hey, Gojo..." She nodded towards something ahead of them. "Do you get the feeling that child is lost?"

Gojo followed her gaze, at first not seeing what had caught her attention. "Huh?"

Satella pointed to a small girl standing alone on the side of the road. The child was looking around with a bewildered, tearful expression, clearly separated from her parents or guardians.

Gojo let out a low chuckle, his eyes crinkling with amusement behind his dark glasses. "What, are we running a lost and found now? I thought we were on a mission here."

Satella's silver brows furrowed, her gaze darting between Gojo and the crying child. "We can't just leave her," she insisted, her voice tinged with concern. "The child is lost, Gojo."

Gojo shrugged, his nonchalant demeanor unwavering. "And what does that have to do with us exactly?"

"If she's lost, we have to do something to help," Satella insisted, her brow furrowing slightly. Her eyes held a mix of determination and disbelief at Gojo's apparent indifference.

Gojo made a noise of disgust, rolling his eyes dramatically. "Blegh! I say leave it. Her parents would probably come for her later."

"But...she's crying!" Satella gestured imploringly at the distraught child, her voice rising slightly in frustration. "Surely you can see that, Gojo?"

"Trust me, she'll be fine," Gojo drawled, waving a dismissive hand. "I'm not about to play babysitter to some random brat. Weren't you the one so dead set on finding your precious insignia?"

Satella's expression hardened, her silver eyes meeting Gojo's cool gaze unflinchingly. "If you can't bring yourself to do this with me, that's fine. Thanks for all your help so far, Gojo. I'll handle it on my own from here after assisting that little girl."

A flicker of annoyance crossed Gojo's face, his usual smirk twisting into something closer to a scowl. "Whatever makes you feel noble and happy. I'm not gonna stop you."

As Satella walked towards the crying child, Gojo remained rooted to his spot, his piercing blue eyes following her movements. The little girl looked up at Satella with teary eyes and a trembling lip as she approached.

"I-I'm sorry, I'm not who you were looking for," Satella said gently, kneeling to the child's level. "What's the matter? Aren't your mom and dad with you?"

The girl's face crumpled at the mention of her parents, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks as she began to cry harder.

"D-Don't cry!" Satella soothed, her voice taking on a panicked edge. She held up her hands in a placating gesture. "I won't hurt you, okay? I just want to help."

Satella glanced back to where Gojo had been standing, a small part of her hoping he might have changed his mind. But the spot was empty, no trace of the white-haired sorcerer to be seen. She couldn't help the little pang of disappointment in her chest. So he'd left that quickly? After everything?

After a moment's thought, Satella shook her head, pushing aside her disappointment. She turned her full attention back to the distraught child before her, determined to help however she could.

From high above the city, Gojo levitated, his white hair whipping in the wind. He looked straight down at the unknowing Satella, who was still caring for the child.

"Tch," he clicked his tongue in annoyance. "I said I'd help, but not if I have to watch over some brat."

He crossed his arms, hovering effortlessly as he observed the scene below. A smirk slowly spread across his face, his blue eyes glinting behind his dark glasses.

"Though it would be pointless to give up on the search now," Gojo mused aloud, his voice carried away by the wind. "I still have nothing better to do. After all, I'll just find the insignia quickly without anybody slowing me down this time."

He chuckled to himself, a hint of arrogance in his tone. "She probably would never find it without me anyway."

Gojo turned his gaze to the horizon, his eyes scanning the sprawling cityscape beneath him. The buildings stretched out in all directions, a maze of streets and alleys winding between them.

"It makes sense a girl going around stealing from people would not be exactly set on money," he reasoned, his mind working through the problem. "Now, where would that type of person be living?"

A sly grin spread across his face as the answer came to him. "That's easy to figure out."

Gojo's piercing gaze swept across the city, taking in every detail from his lofty vantage point. His eyes narrowed as he focused on a particular area in the distance, a rundown section of the city that stood in stark contrast to the more affluent areas.

"There it is," he smirked, his eyes locked on his target. The slums sprawled out before him, a jumble of dilapidated buildings and narrow streets.

Gojo cracked his knuckles, his smirk widening into a full grin. "Time to pay a visit to the seedier side of town."

So here is the 2nd chapter after a month finally. Sorry for taking that long. I didn't expect this story to get this popular after just one chapter, so I'm glad about that.

The reason it took so long is that I was writing a bigger chapter, but I've decided it would be better to post the first half. Hopefully, this chapter isn't too underwhelming because of that. Some of Chapter 3 is already finished so it shouldn't take too long to put out.

Please let me know what you think of this chapter so I can make sure chapter 3 is better. Leaving reviews always helps if you want chapters to come out faster. I'm always open to suggestions.